I have to say that since being given an iPad I’ve discovered how good the Ancestry app is. It never really worked for me on the iPhone but on the iPad it really shines.

Once you have downloaded your family tree from Ancestry on to your iPad it then starts looking for hints for existing members of your family. When you review each hint it brings up an image of the relevant data such as census page or sheet from a church record. You can then review the information and either accept or ignore. If you accept you can then choose which items get changed on your tree. The source information is automatically added.

Like this:

For most family historians with English ancestors at some point you will have to visit at least one County Record Office. So here are few tips if it will be your first time.

Plan your visit

Where is the record office?

This will be listed on the relevant county council web site. Remember county boundaries have changed over the centuries so you may need to confirm with a site like Genuki as to which record office you need. Some counties like Cumbria have more than one record office.

What records does the record office have?

There is no point travelling to the record office if it doesn’t have the records you need. This may include census records, parish registers, newspapers or other historical documents. Some of these may need to be requested in advance so check on the web site or telephone ahead.

Opening hours

The office may not be open 9-5 six days a week. This information should be on the web site too. It may be that you have to leave the building at lunch time if it closes. It may also be necessary to make an appointment if there is restricted space.

What should I take?

Identification

To join the County record office network (CARN) you need to bring along ID such as passport or driving licence. Once you have a card it makes access to all similar archives so much simpler.

Notes

Take a printout of the part of the family tree you are interested in for that visit. You may be able to take a laptop but check first. Have a list of what you are hoping to achieve – this may help you stop getting side tracked.

Equipment

You will be restricted on using pencils in the research rooms. Take more than one and a good notebook to write down your discoveries. If you want printouts of what you find then you will need some cash to pay. Anything else will probably have to be left in a locker and mobiles set to silent/turned off.

In the record office

Don’t be afraid to ask

If it’s your first visit then ask the archivist for help on finding what you need to save time. They will also show you how to use micro film readers and point out the rules of use.

Be Systematic

Start with your initial target and work your way through the records just looking at them. If anything else catches your eye note where you find it and come back later. Write down the source references so that you can double check at a later date if necessary.

Above all enjoy the records and finding out more about your ancestors.

A week tomorrow (4th February) is the UK’s National Libraries day. As you may have seen this blog is very pro libraries so I thought I would share this with you.

This is what the organisers have to say about this inaugural event:

National Libraries Day is devoted to all types of libraries, library users, staff and supporters across the UK. Join in by organising a celebratory event, contributing to our forums, tweeting with the #NLD12 hashtag and visiting your local library on the 4 February or the week leading up to it. How will you get involved?

So what can you do to get involved? If you are a library user check out this map to see if something is already happening at your local library. Their other suggestions include:

Make connections: Get in touch with your local library and find out what they are doing for NLD12. If they have nothing planned, why not talk to them about arranging a celebration, party, author event or read-in?

Share the love! Introduce a colleague, friend or family member to the library that you love, get them to join and show them why it is so great!

Spread the word about why we should all love our libraries. Why not tweet #NLD12 ‘I love my library because…’, ‘like’ NLD12 on our Facebook page or upload a fun picture of you & your library to Flickr.

Feeling creative? Why not make a video, animation or song celebrating libraries, librarians and what they mean to you. Post them on YouTube and watch/comment on other people’s efforts!

Branch out! If you usually borrow a book, why not access the Internet instead. If you’re always online why not borrow a book? Take a look around and see what other exciting services your library has to offer.

Ask! Make NLD12 the day that you put that question’s you’ve always meant to ask to your local library staff! Tell them the subjects you’re interested in and see what they suggest – you might be surprised!

They also have some suggestions for the library staff too as its not too late to join in:

Encourage people to use your library and find out about all the services you offer. If you’re a public library, why not run ‘mini taster sessions’ of the services you provide throughout the week?

If you’re a university or commercial library why not go ‘open access’ for the day and show people what you do? You could even invite the decision makers in your organisation to the library for a personal tour?

Persuade people to ‘come in from the cold’ on Saturday 4th February by offering warming drinks and cake/biscuits in your library building. Once they are in you can tell them about all the great services you provide.

Library Treasures: organise a ‘treasure hunt’ by hiding clues around your library – the first one to solve the final clue wins a prize.

Give a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of your organisation – show your library users all those areas of the library that you normally keep to yourself.

Put on a special event that gets people through the door – an author talk, a creative session with an illustrator, a party?

Run a membership campaign in the week running up to NLD12. Hand out flyers in your local pubs, community and shopping centres. You could even enter everyone who joins that week into a prize drawer.

Anticipate the day by asking users to write on a piece of paper or post-it note why they love their library or librarian and then create a display. If you have old photographs of your library, make a mini exhibition to act as a talking point and provoke nostalgic reminiscences.

If you’re running an event make sure you contact the local press and invite them along. Think about setting up a photo opportunity.

Does a local celebrity support your library? Why not get them involved, set up a signing, photo opportunity or talk/reading. Get them to tweet why your library is the best of the rest!

Contact your local MP and invite them to the library, perhaps they could run their surgery session in the library that week?

Do you have a Women’s Institute near to you? Are they interested in getting involved? Why not ask them what they’d like to do?

If you would like to help raise money for the campaign then The Literary Gift Company are donating 50p from the sale of each of their special library items.

So make sure you do something and help save our libraries by showing how much we love them!

What’s your business ambition right now? Do you want to raise your business profile? Do you want to attract more customers? Put your prices up? Or make more profit? Or like 81% of people, have you simply always wanted to write a book?

In this new course authors and entrepreneurs Antonia Chitty and Erica Douglas are giving a small group of people the chance to work with them to write and publish an eBook over the course of 3 months. Antonia says, “We know that writing is a competitive field. This course doesn’t just help you complete your book; we also tell you how to write a book that SELLS. I have personally seen the amount I can charge increase by a factor of 20 since becoming an author, and our business brings in more than twice average author’s annual income EVERY MONTH.”

If this sounds interesting, follow the link to discover more about the From Knowledge to Profit course. But act fast: you can only sign up until 1 Feb, and you start work at the end of next week!

Why work with Antonia and Erica?

Between them Antonia and Erica have written 15 books and run a successful business. Antonia says, “I’ve learnt LOADS along the way as I’ve worked with a range of publishers:

I’ve self published books, and ALWAYS made a profit.

I’ve discovered how to sell books when you have thousands of copies of a self published book sitting in a garage!

And I’ve found out how eBooks can take the risk away of investing in printed books.

I’ve promoted my own books, and those of other people: I can tell you how to sell 100 books from an email.

I’ve worked through all the hard ways of promoting an eBook, and discovered all the smart ways.

I’ve built up a great team who help my books succeed and they will be supporting YOU too.

If you’re considering joining the From Knowledge to Profit course, but are worried about paying for the course, here are 9 ways to make money from your eBook that have worked for Antonia and Erica:

Sell the book direct from your own website.

Add your book to Amazon Kindle. You can’t afford to miss out on the biggest eBook-buying audience.

Add your book to the other sites that are already selling millions of eBooks. We share them with you in the course.

Develop consultancy or individual coaching services to solve the same issues you address in your eBook.

Offer group training, workshops or group coaching. With your profile as an author, it’s much easier to sell places at your own events.

Contact people who have bought your book direct from your site and offer them other products and services: if they love what you have written they will be keen to buy again.

Create an affiliate scheme so other people can sell your books for you. With an eBook there is no post or packing so you can give them a great incentive AND still make good profits.

Get in touch with conference organisers offering to speak, and include a copy of your book. I’ve made over £1000 by speaking at a single event AND got extra consultancy work afterwards from attendees.

Turn your book into an online course. Some people much prefer eLessons to reading a book, and you can add value with a member site too. If you ask for a small monthly subscription fee for your course you can create a regular stream of income.

Just pick a few of these ideas and you’ll not only make back your course fees, you’ll also have plenty of streams of ongoing income that will allow you to do the work you love AND have time to follow your heart’s interests too.

A final reminder

Join From Knowledge to Profit, and Antonia and Erica tell you much more about creating your eBook AND making it a profitable business asset. You need to sign up by 9pm GMT on Wednesday 1st February to take part.

I don’t need to remind you that being an author can raise your profile, attract more customers and clients, bring in more business and allow you to put up your prices. There is proof all around you when you see authors speaking at conferences or running well paid training and think ‘I wish that was me’.

Well, it could be you. That’s right. Join the From Knowledge to Profit course by by 9pm on Wednesday 1st February to take the first step to creating an eBook.